460 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 351. 



laboratories may be looked upon as field 

 work of a somewhat permanent type. The 

 courses are credited at the University of Chi- 

 cago, although not formally under its charge. 

 Besides the local field work in connection 

 with residence courses in botany, zoology and 

 geology, field work during the past summer 

 has been conducted at a distance from the 

 University by the departments of geology and 

 botany. 



I. GEOLOGY. 



1. A course in elementary field geology was 

 given by Mr. R. D. George for four weeks of 

 the second term of the summer quarter, the re- 

 mainder of the term being devoted to the prep- 

 aration of a report on the field work. A party 

 of eleven traversed a region in the Mississippi 

 valley between Prairie du Chien, Wis., and 

 Muscatine, la. They devoted themselves to a 

 study of (a) Paleozoic strata and fossils, (6) the 

 topographic features of the driftless area in 

 Iowa and Wisconsin, (c) the stratified drift of 

 the valleys, (d) the loess, and (e) the lead and 

 zinc deposits of the Dubuque region. 



2. Professor R. D. Salisbury is in charge of 

 several parties in Montana, Idaho and Utah. 

 These parties consist of advanced students and 

 are working somewhat independently, Profess- 

 or Salisbury visiting the different parties at 

 intervals and making suggestions regarding 

 the work. A party of two is at Kipp, Mont., 

 a second party of two at Kalispell, Mont. 

 These two parties are investigating the phe- 

 nomena of local glaciation in the Rocky moun- 

 tains. Another party of two is at work in the 

 Santa F6 mountains of New Mexico, studying 

 their structural and stratigraphic features. A 

 party of six, under the immediate direction of 

 Mr. W. W. At wood, is at work on the Wahsatch 

 mountains, studying similar problems. 



BOTANY. 



1. A party of eight, under the direction of 

 Mr. S. M. Coulter, of Washington University, 

 spent the first part of the second term of the 

 summer quarter at North Manitou Island, pass- 

 ing over later to the mainland in the vicinity of 

 Petoskey and Charlevoix, studying the ecolog- 

 ical relations of the flora in these regions. This 

 work is essentially an examination of the way 



in which plants associate themselves and an in- 

 vestigation of the determining factors of envi- 

 ronment for each society. 



2. Similar but more extended work has been 

 undertaken by a party of eighteen in charge of 

 Dr. H. C. Cowles. This party has a car on the 

 Great Northern Railroad, and is stopping at 

 various favorable localities through Montana 

 and Washington. Two weeks were spent at 

 Flat Head Lake, Montana, the site of the bio- 

 logical station of the University of Montana, 

 whose facilities were put at the disposal of the 

 party ; another week was spent at Bel ton, Mont.; 

 and other stops were made at Leavenworth and 

 Seattle, Wash. This is the most extended field 

 trip yet offered in the department of botany and 

 has certainly presented unusual advantages to 

 the students for a study of widely different 

 floras under most varied climatic conditions. 



NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



The Misses Olivia E. Phelps Stokes and 

 Caroline Phelps Stokes have recently con- 

 tributed the sum of $3,200 to the Garden, of 

 which $200 is to be added to the Special Book 

 Fund, the remainder is to constitute a fund, 

 the income of which is to be devoted to the 

 protection and preservation of native wild 

 flowers. This will increase the effectiveness 

 of the Garden in a very desirable direction, and 

 enable it to do much in the promotion of a 

 healthy public sentiment in the matter. 



Dr. M. A. Howe, assistant curator, ac- 

 companied by Mr. William Lange, museum 

 aid, and Mr. Clifton D. Howe, of the University 

 of Chicago, made an exploration of Nova Scotia. 

 Special attention was paid to the collection of 

 marine algae, of which several thousand speci- 

 mens, preserved in fluid and dried condition 

 were secured . About 8 , 000 sheets of herbarium 

 specimens of land plants were secured. The 

 exploration reached New York on September 

 9. The expenses of the expedition were 

 chiefly defrayed from funds contributed by Mr. 

 George W. Perkins, of the Board of Man- 

 agers. 



Dr. D. T. MacDougal, first assistant, spent 

 a portion of the summer in Montana in cooper- 

 ation with the biological expedition of the 

 State University. Dr. MacDougal was accom- 



